15:41
By Rose Athumani
Dodoma — A REPORT from experts has it that
the country loses 30 elephants daily and an average of 800 every month
to poaching, the Parliament was told.
The Chairman of parliamentary Committee on Land, Natural Resources
and Environment, James Lembeli (Kahama - CCM) while presenting the
Committee speech, noted that between 2006 and 2009, the country lost 30,
000 elephants to poaching, adding that now the country loses 10, 000
per year.
The legislature noted that areas that are notorious for poaching of
elephants include Selous-Mikumi zone and Tanzania reserve and Mozambique
Selous-Njasa. He said poaching activities are increasing due to lack of
enough funds to fight the vice, lack of enough human resource and
working equipments.
"The Committee wants the government to take steps quickly to curb
this problem, including availing enough funds to fight poaching of
elephants and other animals in general," he said.Mr Lembeli said the
government should issue a permit to the ministry to employ enough
personnel in the wild life department and to renovate infrastructure in
forests to safeguard elephants for future generation.
He said in 1977, elephant population in Africa stood at 1.3 million
and by 1992 that number had dwindled to 600, 000, and today the number
stands at 470,000 due to poaching. "The committee directs the government
to address poaching issues in its entirety and stop poaching activities
in the country," he explained.
The Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Ambassador Khamis
Kagasheki in his speech when tabling his ministry's budget estimates,
noted that 75, 593 patrols were conducted within and outside National
Forests Reserves.
Ambassador Kagasheki noted that a total of 1, 981 suspects have been
apprehended in connection with different crimes, adding that 1, 280
cases have been opened. He said out of the total cases opened, 884 of 1,
522 suspects are in different courts across the country, and 382 have
been ruled and 439 suspects have paid a fine of 173, 161,000/-.
The Shadow Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Mr Peter Msigwa
(Iringa Urban - Chadema) accused the government for not putting more
efforts and resources in the fight against poaching in the country. He
said a suspect caught in connection with poaching was arraigned in court
and given different charges not related to elephant poaching.
He said the security of elephants and other rare species is in danger
because of government's laxity in taking stringent measures to curb
poaching. "It is a shame to hear the government say that poachers have a
lot of money and use highly sophisticated methods, when we expect the
government to ensure the security of the wild animals," he added.
